Rome Condensed: Everything You Need to Know Before Going

Hello, and welcome back to another episode of only a bag a travel podcast. I'm Darcy Melton and with me as always is Nathaniel Melor Thanks for joining me at the coffee table today We have definitely switched. We are now sitting at the coffee table It's quite nice. Yeah, we're sitting on the floor because we didn't want to pull out the dining room table from the wall so Yeah, yeah, it shows the extent of our dedication We're very dedicated. We just don't have a set up That's a good point. It's set up. I'm gonna be starting doing this in the plane next episode Really pissing off for neighbors Actually speaking of which Should we just go ahead and say that we are gonna be taking a short break after this episode right or yeah We're not sure Because I've realized we don't really have any other way to communicate short of a podcast that we're taking a break But essentially we are going to be Potentially a few episodes I think we'll have one more out and then we're going we're in Italy now and we're going back to the states to visit And so once we get resettled in after about a week or so. We'll probably record some podcasts Back-to-back I think and then have them Scheduled to go out so like nothing interrupts our regular scheduled programming too much But I think that would be our thing the only issue is then because One thing I did what I mentioned is almost every podcast that you are listening to our dear listener was recorded the same day that it comes out And for a while we're trying to Monday mornings 8 a.m. East Coast time Which meant that we recorded it. I think like between 10 and 11 Our 11 and 12 in Italy so we're six hours ahead and then we'd clean it up and post it at two So the idea I think I don't know. I always like the idea that like oh they just They just recorded this they just spoke about these things I always hated like another with the car radio and you're driving around and they like they go Monday mornings The worst am I right and like you recorded this on a Saturday afternoon like what are you talking about? I always pretend the podcast I wasn't to or just recorded. I like that You know, I think it kind of is like oh they were just talking about this. This is up-to-date information So that just means that some of the podcasts later this year are going to be a little bit out of Sync in case anything happens like as far as in the news We won't be like you know referring to it I don't say in the news because we're gonna be talking about Naples I think next episode the episode afterwards and there've been some earthquakes in the comfy for the gatti Which is this sort of a fligrian fields and it next to Naples. It's up basically up I don't know It's a bunch of magma under the ground that keeps going up and down up and down and it's scaring everybody because it goes up too much it pops Well, it goes up and down up and down over how many years well hundreds, but okay? So it's not currently people are not like jiggling around. Oh, yeah, no. Sorry. It's well. They're slowly jiggling around But everyone's sitting quite nervous and that's been in the news recently Well, I was new in the news a couple days ago. I was just saying having but since then they've been like oh my gosh Let's have not have a look at an eruption You know circa whatever was 1500s that sort of decimated a lot of things So I think that's a really fun true way to start this off, but essentially. Oh, yeah We're probably taking a break around Christmas as well Just because it's Christmas and there's no way we're gonna be putting out episodes because we're gonna be super busy and Running around like chicken to the head cough. Mm-hmm. Anything else? No, I think that's it. That's a good just letting y'all know. Yeah. Okay, um, and then I guess if you would like to support this podcast speaking of I always say speaking of support. Yeah, holidays. I don't know if you want to send us some money No, there is a link in the description to I trusted house hitters because this episode we were talking about Rome pretty much everything we know about Rome we Learned through a house sitting. I actually speaking of house. It's as a heads up for y'all a lot of people do leave home For the holidays and need house itters. Yeah, so if you're somebody who wants to Escape your family for the holidays and that madness If that's how your family is or escape to your family if you love your family You want to see them? Oh actually there might yeah, there might be a house sit in your hometown if you're going back to visit Yeah, so yeah, just it could be a cool opportunity if you want to house it over over the holidays And we said it because we did see something we were we're looking at houses for when we're back in the States and there are a number of them around that sort of holiday period Or all the holiday periods, but there are a number of houses that basically people are leaving for a week or two and it's like oh, that could be kind of fun I'm like all over I mean in Europe. There's always always times especially around the Christmas period where people are just sort of Going to stage for three months to Miami because they can't stomach the French winters again. I feel like that's a popular one I know I know but it's like everyone's like I've been to Miami and I'm like that's amazing I can imagine you're gonna go to winter because it's so much nicer So if you'd like to try out house sitting if you'd like to Go skiing or I don't know cuddle some pets in front of a wood burning stove There's a link in the description to trusted house sitters It will help support the channel and as always if you could like and follow and subscribe and Vote thumbs up. I don't I really We don't know what yeah, we don't know what looks like here in your end We know that Spotify has a follow and we want to say thank you to all the people who have followed us. It seems this call to Follow what it not call to arms that seems a little strong, but yeah, we don't want to call you guys to do that But there's this call to follow has Yeah, a lot of you have followed so thank you so much for following so on with the episode. Yeah, so today It's I'm calling in a bridge episode. I feel like it's a we talked about Rome so much and it is often Our like connection to Italy like we're there all the time and we come through Rome anytime We're back and forth between the US and Italy, and it's just kind of always there for us We've talked about a friend. It is. It is a very solid friend very old friend It's fair and so because we've talked about it so much We're just gonna go into general stuff today, right? A super condensed super general not super general super condensed Because we've done like kitchen sink episodes, and if you'd like to listen to that we have that that's more like Emergency numbers and some things to stay aware of is and that's almost I think I want to say a lot of that refers to in the summer This is just general how to get like very briefly how to get there how to get around Some tips and some explanations on what we what to expect in Rome just based on our own sort of Showing people Rome I guess yeah, so it's hard to put in words But essentially it's sort of like imagine if you asked somebody who'd been a Rome like all right in 20 minutes Tell me everything I needed know about Rome and then they just start talking really quickly This is that episode. This is what they that friend would say I think except we are your friends And this is what we're saying and we don't talk that quickly. We're very rambly So if they told you in 45 minutes and you're just like at the end of it, you're like okay, okay, and and let's go Let's go that's kind of what this episode is gonna be. I think it's a fair way to get there, right? Yeah, I think so perfect. Okay, so Okay, we're not gonna get into the history right because there's just there's there's so much and I we've talked about the history of like Florence and Siena And it's not that there's less history in those places. It's just maybe a more this more succinct Rome's history's all over the place Well, it's easy. I think and especially we talked about this maybe before but Florence and Siena and you're like you know Circa 1400s. It really started yeah people started paying attention, but like Rome is sort of like what period of history do you talk about? And especially because they think it's I don't know. I mean the recent history might be more Not even interesting. It's just more prevalent to what we've talked about in the last episode if you haven't heard the last few episodes They've been about the south versus the north and as you mentioned just minutes ago. This is a bridge episode and Rome is often considered that sort of the middle of the country. It's why the capitals there For everybody in the north. It's considered very south for everybody in south it's considered north, but it's kind of both. It's a very southern feel But somehow still kind of orderly and and yeah, relatively you know I know it's it's got it's a the perfect marriage between the two the two the north and the south basically. It's kind of a very I don't know. It's a different feel. I think the south is a slightly more chaotic field in Rome But like Rome's a good place to kind of like if you're afraid of the chaos of the south. It's a good place to go to and be like Oh, this isn't too bad. It is speaking of like I feel like it vibes, you know, like it's just it's a big city Yes, it's not I would say it's not as chaotic as New York Not as chaotic. Okay. Yeah, is it I don't know because I think you mentioned it's big city. I would almost say I Would almost say it's a collection of neighborhoods that happen to be touching Because it is a big city, but it's almost like you go from neighborhood to neighborhood and everything shifts like you're in it You sometimes in a very fire like residential and then you're all the same in the financial district And you're like I just I walked like only 17 feet like what happened I guess I'm thinking though. There's like there's a bussel. There is a bussel. There's a bussel. So it's Florence has it too, but Florence was even to me a little more relaxed and maybe that's because we were amongst Probably mostly tourists some guessing Because it's like a confused bussel to Florence. Yeah, where are we going next? But then Rome is death and more the people are getting to work. Yeah, I have to go to lunch. I have to be back at this place and you know It's very much like regular people who live there mixed in with tourists. Yeah, at least when we've been there So there's there's a lot of movement I guess I would agree No, I think that and and you mentioned Florence I think Florence is one of those cities that you definitely feel that you but one would feel outnumbered by As a tourist you feel you outnumber everybody else But in Rome it's sort of you know some areas are definitely predominantly tourists, but by and large the subways and the buses It's like oh there's a bunch of Romans living in Rome There's also just, and then you drop, you know, you get off. I mean, that's even some of those popular stops I'm thinking, even for Romans or Taviano, O Taviano, which is the stop for the Vatican. It's just, it also happens to be a hub of other transportation. And lots of stuff for local people like one of our market markets is over there. That's a good point. It's a great point to have. So it's, it's like, like the Colosseum stop, I think we talked about before. You exit the metro and you see the Colosseum and there's not like a grocery store. Yeah, yeah. No, that's a good point. Quite abandoned. I mean, not abandoned. That's the wrong word. It's just, it's old Roman ruins and it smells like tourists. You're going to that specific stop because that is like, you know, nothing else happening. Yeah. No, I think it's a good point. Yeah. So you talked about neighborhoods. You briefly mentioned neighborhoods. Do you have any that you want to describe or that you like or anything like that? Yeah, we can jump to neighborhoods. I did bring neighborhoods and I was going to quickly mention how to get to Rome because we haven't talked about that. But very incredibly briefly, there are two airports, Fumuchino, FCO, and then CIA. It's like Chambano, Chambiano. If you're looking to come in from the states, FCO is by far the easiest. It's probably the only choice you'll have. It's the international airport. CIA is the budget flight airport for Americans among us, which we're, I think, much more new to budget flights than Europe is. Like Europe has had a Brian Air and EZJ at Norway and all sorts of stuff, like 20 years. But like frontier, I feel like a still spirit is still really new in the states. But in Europe, almost every European city, almost every big European city, has at the very least two airports, one that is for like international flights and one that is for domestic/budget flights. Because I think Paris has orderly and then Shadogal. But also they have like Bejo or whatever it is in the North. It's like an hour and a half away and you know, it takes the Whiz Air flights to North or it's just an awkward, but I'm thinking like every, like even London has, you know, Heathrow and Gatwick but also has the Hampstead or something like that or is it? Well, you know, way more about your person, I do. Well, no, I'm just thinking, but it's like when you fly, I can't remember any of these places. Well, I was thinking too, because I think we've almost made the mistake. I don't think we've actually made the mistake yet, but I'm thinking, oh good, we have a flight to Rome. Let's not worry about it anymore. And then not realizing that like, oh, you have a flight to the weird, outside, you have to have like four buses and like a donkey cart to get to town. Not the one, like the, again, like the FCO has the high speed train straight to, from FCO to Termini, the main train station in the middle of Rome. It's like 42 minutes, pretty much on the dot. It's like, they say it's 42 minutes and it's almost always been 42 minutes. It's a flat rate of what are those 14-year-olds, 12-year-olds and it's great. I mean, it's basically, it's like a subway with a mix with a luggage car. There's a bunch of places to put luggage. But then CIA, you have to take like, it's like a train to a bus to a train or something like that. And while it's kind of complete, it's like they recently made it into this thing where it's um, I don't know, they call it the CIA link, I think that's what it is, where it's like, you know, like this is how you get there. It's just one of those things where it's kind of like LaGuardia. Yeah. You know, you're in, if you're in, if you're in New York City, JFK has like the air train from, from Jamaica, which is fairly easy to get to, from like all of New York. But then LaGuardia, it's like, you take a bus to the end of the line and then you switch to, it's just like, wait, where, what am I doing here? That's the only place that I've ever gone to the wrong airport. Yeah. I think I went to JFK and I was supposed to be in LaGuardia. Well, that's the thing too. You think of, of course, I'm flying to JFK. It's JFK. Why would I fly to LaGuardia? And then you fly, you know, that's the kind of thing. So, all that was to say is there's two airports, FCO, CIA. I recommend double checking that you are flying into FCO or out of FCO. And then that basically brings you into Termany. And speaking of Termany, there are two major train stations in Rome, T-Bertina and Termany. Easy to get confused. They both start with the T-Termany is right in the middle. It's also called Chentrali or center, if it's like written, it looks like central E. Yeah, right, centrally. That's a small chentrali, yeah. That is Termany and that's the middle. That's the easiest train station. It's right in the middle town. It has both metro lines running through it. Both of the two that Rome has. It has like 17 buses running through it. It's got a tram. It's got, I mean, it's the hub of transportation in Rome. There's also T-Bertina, which is. And the reason I'm bringing that one up is because if you are taking a bus to and from Rome anywhere, you're almost certainly going to be going to T-Bertina, because it's a little bit on the outskirts of Rome. So buses, and I'm talking like Flix Bus, I'm talking Marino Bus, I'm talking all the buses we've talked about in the past episodes. I think Othelina Tuscana, if you're coming from Florence, has a line that goes to T-Bertina. They will go to T-Bertina and then you have to hit the metro into town. So very briefly, I just want to throw those out there as far as transportation. There's two major airports, two major train stations. And for ease of travel, you're looking for FCO or Fumuccino, and then you're looking for Termany or Chentrali. I think that's a pretty succinct way of putting it. Yeah, that was pretty comprehensive, I think. Oh, right. So, okay, I was going to talk about neighborhoods, but now I want to talk about transfer transport in the city. It's not very complicated, it's pretty fast. I think it looks complicated, I think it's easier once you start doing it. It's complex, the system, but yeah, I like that. I don't, once you get the handle of it, it's not difficult. I don't want to say that maybe, because maybe it is. No, I think it took some getting used to for us, and then it's just like one of those the bark is worth and the worst and the bite kind of thing. It looks really complicated and scary, and then when you're actually doing it, then you realize it's not complicated or scary. Yes. Does that make sense? Yeah, I agree with that. So, what's your thoughts on the transport? Okay, so I'm thinking about whenever you get into Termany, there's like the, it's going to say international trains. That's not what they are, but the. It's not not what they are. To be fair, they do go to France. They're true, they are international trains. What's Switzerland? So, it's a train station, it's a metro station, and it's a bus station. Yes. Technically, there's a tram that runs next to it as well. We've never taken our lines. That is true, I forgot. I was going to say the tram doesn't come near there, but it does. Okay, so that leads us to the fact that Rome has three ways of public transport. Yeah, I think so, right? Yeah. So, there's the metro, which kind of only goes in two directions, right? Ish does look an ex. It does an ex. It's two lines and they run north south, but not north south, but it's easier to imagine. I think that it's like southeast to northwest, and the other one's southwest to northeast kind of thing. And then there's trams, and then there are buses. Yeah, I think because if you look on the website, there are a couple and other websites. What am I talking about? Well, I guess it's the website. It's the ATAC website. There are a few other things. They have the difference between tram and something else. It's not a tram, it's something train. It's like a sub above ground train, but it's basically a tram. And then, plus, they consider the Ostea Line, the one out to the beach, as well as some other stuff. But essentially, yeah, there's only three major parts of this thing. Yes, we probably have to close speaking what you're probably going to be taking is our metro, the bus, or the tram. And they all work on the same system. So, whenever you have the little ATAC card that's ATAC, if you want to look it up, that's Rome's public transport. So, whenever you get your little pass, you can hop between, it works for Metro bus and tram. Yes. So, it's not like you have to get separate tickets for separate modes of transportation. Right, right, right. And they all work together. And they have to, because none of them are comprehensive on their own. Well, that's a huge thing. Yeah, yeah. So, I cannot talk about buses, because you and I avoided using the buses the first couple of times we were there. It's so scared of them. One thing before then, do you want to tell people how the tickets work really quickly? Yeah, do you want to? No, it's a pick of you. Right, you're brought it up. I mean, I'm happy to talk. I just didn't give another model. How do the tickets work? No, just, I mean, interrupt me if you want. But essentially, they cost a Euro 50 per ticket. There are different plans. There's a 24-hour, 48-hour, 72-hour, one-week, one-month plan. There are also Roma pass. It's basically 24 or 48-hour pass, or maybe 24 or 72-hour pass. And it gets you entry into one museum, reduced entries into the other museums, free bathrooms at certain points, and free transportation. But they're a bit heftier in price. It's something like 40 euros for a one-day pass, which essentially isn't bad if you're like, "I'm going to see everything in one day." And you need to be able to transport yourself around quickly. I think if you're like a management mindset traveler, or you have everything pretty planned out, that's a good choice for you, getting the pass. But I wouldn't get it because I'm very scatterbrained, and I would not remember to take advantage. That's any of the benefits. I'll put, I have a road article, I believe it's on our website, "OnlyBetter.com." But it basically talks about the difference between, because there's 150 for a ticket. And I think the 24-hour pass is something like seven euros, eight euros. It's something where you have to use a ticket. You have to basically be using it numerous times for it to make sense financially. I don't mind even thinking solo. I'm thinking if you're like a family of four, or something like that, which seems to be like what they're placing, you know, basing their costs off of. You know, it's like, is it better just to get a stack of tickets when you get there, or is it better to get these passes? So anyway, that was very, that was based that there's a bunch of different passes. They're all 150. As of recording this October 2023, there are no Now two machines, one that prints out a paper ticket that is a single-use ticket, and one that prints out a paper ticket, it's two euros instead of 150. They are not single-use tickets. They are still paper though, but they are rechargeable paper cards. They are straight garbage. - Yep. - I am so for rechargeable cards. I love rechargeable cards. Darcy and I use these rechargeable plastic cards, unfortunately, but they're monthly cards. Every time I'm in Rome, which recharge those, the paper ones are straight garbage. If it's in the summer, they get sweaty, they start falling apart. You can't use them, you're trying to tap them. It's like, we can't read this card, and I'm like, oh my God, nobody thought of this. Nobody thought like, is there something else I can do? Anyway, before I start ranting about these cards, essentially it's not the end of the world to have them, but when we went to my dad and your mom, I realized that some stations only have those ticket machines, which aren't bad, but again, because they're paper, even though they say rechargeable, I mean, like my dad kept throwing his away. And I'm like, my man, I need you to stop throwing his away. I mean, I was like, I'm spending extra 50 cents per ticket, but I was like, please, please stop throwing it away. So that is just something to be aware of, is you might have a rechargeable one, you might have just had a single use. And then lastly, the tickets last for, I believe a hundred minutes. - That hasn't changed, has it? - It has, but like, since we first went in now, or something like that. - Okay. - I mean, we haven't changed the way we use the tickets, so I don't know if anything about them has effectively changed regular people using them. Like you can still use it for a hundred minutes. I can take the metro to the bus stop, and then get on the bus with the same 100 minute ticket, right? - Yes, yes. And so as Darcy just said, for anyone who is now trying to put this together, 'cause we're all talking very fast, it's good for a hundred minutes on every mode of transportation, except you can only use it on a metro once. So that means you can take the metro to a bus, switch to the bus, and then spend the rest of your day on the bus, or whatever the rest of the ticket on the bus, or you can take a couple of buses, and then switch to a metro, and it's good for one metro ride, and unlimited buses and trams. You don't really have to stamp the ticket again when you get on the next mode of transportation. I do if I'm running out of time, because we haven't really figured out, just for an example, it's like, if you stamp at a four o'clock, it's good for a hundred minutes, so that's until 540. I'm doing my math, right? But we haven't really figured out like, if it's a 20-minute bus ride we have to take, and we get on the bus at 535, the ticket was valid when we got on the bus, but it's not gonna be valid when we get off the bus, and so if somebody gets on the bus to check our tickets, 15 minutes into the ride, it's now a 10-minute expired ticket, or are we gonna get in trouble? We haven't yet run into that as a problem. It seems weird, 'cause no one's gonna spend more money on an extra ticket for another 20 minutes. This is Rome, we're talking about after all. So my suggestion was you'd be, you're probably fine if you're like, as long as it's valid when you get on board, you're probably totally fine. Yeah. - The good news is that, okay, so Rome is, it's our understanding of the, at least in the last, like, I don't know, 10 years have been quite strict about signing writers if they don't have a valid ticket, but in the buses now, you can tap your debit card, or credit card, right? - debit credit phone, if you have it on your Apple Pay, Google Pay. - They have these separate, we'll go into it in a minute, 'cause they're confusing for everybody, but there's a separate little machine that looks like a ticket machine, and you can tap and buy a ticket that way. And so I think, I didn't have my card one day, like my reusable card, so I was panicked. I thought we were gonna get a ticket, but I was telling the, what do you call them? The controller. - Yeah, I was like, I can get off the bus, it's totally fine. Leave me anywhere, I don't have any money. But he's like, no, just go tap your card, buy another ticket. So that is easier than paying a giant fine. - Yes, and I mean, I think it's hard to tell, 'cause I had my valid ticket, so I didn't know if he was like, oh, you guys are, and we were speaking Italians, I helped, I mean, I don't know if he was like, it's one of the things I pulled out my card, and when he saw it that was rechargeable, monthly card, he's like, no, I'm not gonna see if it's valid. And then when you couldn't find yours, he's like, give me your card, let me see if that's valid. And I think it's one of those things where people do get a little, I get a little bit, not fresh with them, but there's definitely that sort of sense of, what do you mean you need to see my card? It's like, I'm on the bus every day, it's like, cool, but we're gonna make sure, 'cause I think we've mentioned in the Rome episode, it's all a, actually, if I may move into this, getting onto a metro, nobody's gonna see if you have a ticket, because you have to scan your ticket to get through the turnstiles. Pretty much at most, like it is at most planes, I think weirdly, Humberg and Berlin are on our system. They just trust that you've, yeah, which is, I mean, it wasn't that wild to me, it just as an American, I was like, you know, usually the metal gate that prevents you from getting into the subway without a ticket. So this one was like, they trust you to have it a little verified or whatever it is validated. No, but the Humberg bus's work is, most buses for its worth have three doors, front, middle and rear door, and the front and rear are for exiting. So the idea is you're all supposed to get on the middle of the bus, and then everybody who's getting off the bus either gets on the front or the rear of the bus. - It does not always work that way, but that's the way it should. - It does not always work that way. - That's like, and especially I've been told and I've been reading that in the North, it's very much that way. Malon, totally, you know, that kind of stuff. And then the farther, farther south you go, the looser that gets. - But also, like, for a shower or when you're all packed on the bus, sometimes-- - Oh, yeah, there's no, no one's moving out as much as you can. Like, you just gotta get on with life. - Well, that was the thing, it's like there's, so if you, the idea is you get on the middle of the bus, and if you go right, you can pay the credit card. If you go left, you pay with a normal card. - Ah, right. - And it's a little confusing because there's a lot of conflict. Like, it says, if you go right, you can pay with a rechargeable card. And I think they mean like a rechargeable Visa card, like the pre-paid debit cards. Not a rechargeable-- - Like, we have a monthly pass for the Rome public transit system. - Yeah. - And that does not work on these rechargeable machines where you can use your debit or credit card or phone to pay. We have to go to the, it's a little yellow ticket machine. The same one that you use for the regular paper tickets. That's where we go with our pass. - Yes, exactly. So that was just for simplicity's sake. And then I think the last thing, and then we can move on to talking about more transportation because you want to do, and I interrupt you talking about the tickets, is just very briefly, as you mentioned, like rush hour and stuff like that. It's something we see, well, not to call it tourists. It's something we see the tourists do a lot, and it's just something we always want to warn tourists about, is when you step on the bus, don't stop. - Yeah. - Like, go find a spot, find something, get out of the way. It's really common for people to be running for the bus, and to like, throw themselves on board. And it is not uncommon to see people get, like, who have stepped on board and stand right where the doors are gonna be, to either get hit by somebody trying to get onto the bus, or not realizing the doors are gonna close on them. So it's just one of those things where it's a lot happening. It's just a bunch of people, a bunch of bodies, a bunch of movement. There is very little consideration, compassion, calmness, when getting on and off a bus, there's like, I mean, Rome. We've often get hit very hard by people, trying to get on, like, the bus is not remotely empty. It's not leaving for another 20 minutes at the end of the line, and people are like, fighting to get on board, to get into the seats. So there's not like a lot of, are there can sometimes be a lack of like, respect? I think when it comes to boarding a bus, it's not just like, oh, I didn't get to time. - I do love, though, when like, is. Okay, a lot of people in Italy are short. I'm quite short. I'm five four, so I feel at home here. But often it's like the shorter, older lady who yells at the people who are being obnoxious, and I'm here for it. - Oh yeah, absolutely. - Yeah. - Now there's definitely that sort of like, the yelling of like, what are you doing? Let's get off the bus. I'm also a big fan of it, 'cause I'm fairly large and tall. So it's always kind of fun, 'cause people try to hit you, like, to get you to move it, not to hit you, not to punch you. But like, kind of classic, oh, I didn't see you there, I was just trying to get on the bus. So it's always a lot of fun for me, 'cause I just get to stand there and watch people sort of bounce off of me, and I'm like, oh, no, did I hit you? Which is, yeah, it sounds like I'm, it's not the mad gladiator fight that I'm making it sound like. It's just sometimes on some bus stops, especially on Rush Hour, everyone's just trying to fight for a seat. - Yeah, I mean, generally, it's not that bad. - No, generally it's fine. - What's the one stop that we always have trouble? - That's actually what I was saying, La Panto. - La Panto. - Yeah, it's a mix between like, at the end of the line for two buses, and it's on a subway line. So you get people sprinting from the subway, like throwing themselves onto the bus in this mad dash, and then the bus is like, we're not leaving for like 25 minutes, please, please, please, stop. - Yeah, that one's, that one's the craziest thing. - That is the craziest thing. - But most of the time, you're gonna be fine. - Yeah. - Don't let us scare you. - No, and I think that's like, that was like, 'cause we keep, I'll keep wanting to write like a little like, not even guide book, but a little like, here's some rules to keep in mind, but essentially it is, go right if you're paying with a credit card, go left if you're paying with an ATAC card, and as soon as you step on the bus, just move, find a place, find a seat, find somewhere to stand. If you're not confident with, you know, standing on a moving bus, most people are not. Everybody's usually holding onto something on the bus, so just try to find somewhere we can hold on. - Definitely. - They don't, the bus drivers don't really care that there's a bus full of people behind them that have no idea what they're doing. They just like to take turns. A lot of time, because people walk out in the middle of the road sometimes, or, you know, mopeds are totally allowed to come around them and split the lane and things. So, you're trying not to do that. They're really similar. They're hitting every part. Yeah. It's more difficult on the bus than it is on the Metro to do that cool, no hands standing on it. Yeah. And I think last is the, so very briefly, and then I am done, and then Darcy and I had some of the mentioned about the transportation, and I know you're like, "I know what I was going to say. You've just been a model logging for an hour." Very, very briefly, something that we ran into a lot of stores asking us when they heard that we spoke English, is people asking us, "Oh, do you know what stop is XYZ?" Like, you know, what's the so-and-so stop coming up? Like, "Marishalo, is that coming up?" And I'm like, "I have no idea. Nobody knows. That's like the secret of the bus." Nobody knows what stock you're at. Like, on a subway, there's these giant signs, everybody pulling to a station. There's signs everywhere. And the nice little voice into different languages, saying what station you're at. And where to exit? Exit right on the right side of the train or whatever it is. On a bus, it is like the size 14 font in the corner of a sign somewhere that lets you know where you're at. And often the bus stops, don't have their names printed on them on the outside. That's the other thing. Plus, if the bus driver, and this is a big thing too, and I'll probably bundle this together because we saw some Europeans miss their bus. I think they got, they miss their bus coming on. You have to flag down a bus if you want to get on. Yeah. Or hope that somebody or standing here will flag it down. But if you see your bus, if you're like bus 117 or something like that, and you're like, "Oh, we need bus 117 to get to wherever." You have to wave it down. Mm-hmm. I like to do the New York cab. Yeah, you put out your hand a little bit. Put your hand out pretty cool. I mean, I put my entire arm out to be clear. Yeah. I probably look ridiculous. No, you do the everyday else. It's kind of a wave it down kind of thing. Mm-hmm. Sometimes they don't wave it down. So I do like, I give them like, with probably looks like the evil eye and like, making crazy things. Well, let's say that if you could make eye contact with a bus driver and like nod, sometimes if it's not our bus, I'll shake my head and they always give me a little thumbs up to be like, "Thanks, I'm not going to stop." Mm-hmm. And I only say that because again, subways and trams, well, let me rephrase it, subways will stop at every stop. Yeah. There's no mechanism for them to know if anybody's going to get off of that stop or anybody get on at the stop. Trams, some routes will stop at every stop. Some will not. Mm-hmm. It also depends on the time of day. It also depends. Yeah. But Sunday of its late at night, you have to hit the little stop button for them to actually stop at that stop. Busses are the same way if you need to get off the bus, obviously you have to ring the little bell. Yes. Okay. So to be clear, anytime you want to catch the bus, obviously you have to go to a bus stop that has the bus number that you need number one. And you have to basically flag down the bus to make sure that they stop. And when you get on the bus and you want to exit, you have to press the stop button. Yes. You know, you would need to get off. That you need to get off. Yeah, yeah. Trams, like Nathaniel said, it depends on which tram you're on and what time of day. But if you don't know, if it's going to stop and you're on the tram, just go ahead and press the button anyway before you stop. But do you need to flag down a tram? I guess. No, not really, because unless, and this is where actually comes with weird with the buses, the reason to flag down a bus is because almost every bus stop in Rome serves as a stop for at least two bus routes. There are some that don't they serve as just one bus route, but it's still safe anyway. But by and large, most of the bus stops in Rome serve as a stop for at least two bus, stop bus routes, bus lines, which is why you have to flag it down. Because if you're waiting for 117, you see 336, 336 doesn't know if you're waiting for them or, you know, waiting for 117. But with trams, by and large, they only run one route. There's very few crossover lines, like crossover stops. And you probably can't, I mean, I would say no. I would say you're probably good just waiting there. And that's all to say, like, and it just sounds crazy because I know I just said a couple of seconds ago, too, that you can't see the name of the stop. A lot of this can be solved with like Google Maps, Apple Maps, Maps, I don't know what out whether or other kind of map things that are out there, but like Google Maps, for instance, only because we use them in Apple, they have little dots that like they basically one, they share the right of the bus, which is really simple, two, they have dots for every stop. So you can count the dots as well as tell you where you are three because it updates obviously in pretty real time. You can be like, well, there's no dots between me and the dot I need to be to, even though it looks like, you know, we're basically where we're maybe still a minute away on the bus. It looks like I'm the next stop, so you can go ahead and ding the bell. Plus, as we've even found on the tram, because again, it's kind of a little bit like Google Maps is not as great with the tram, so I'll be honest. They don't realize that sometimes the tram is there, but we've noticed that like, okay, well, we know we need to get off near this building. So as soon as I see that building, I'll bring the bell to stop the tram, or we'll just get off if we, you know, as soon as we see the river, that's when we know we have to get off. Ooh, one note is that, okay, so with the Metro, you can't talk to the driver, obviously. Yeah, at all. No communication there. With trams, you cannot talk to the driver. There's a very firm door in between, well, sometimes the door swings open. But you can. Here's that found door, yeah. With buses, if you don't know where you're going, if you don't know if it's the right bus, if you don't know how to identify your stop, you can politely ask the bus driver. You'll probably have to shout, there's a taxi last between you. But they are reasonably accessible, especially if you're polite and quick about it. You gently shout out your stop, you're like, this thing, they're like, yeah, no problem. And they'll tell you when the stop is. So if you have no access to a phone or a map that's updating, you can nicely talk to the bus driver. Just ignore the sign above them that says, do not talk to the bus driver at any time. I mean, don't like chitchat. Well, people do chitchat. People will yell at the driver. I mean, there's a lot of conversations with the drivers. They also have like one ear plug in, if they're listening to not your plug, your butt in, they're always listening to something. Some people have like, they're watching a YouTube video or a movie. It's a nightmare. It's a straight nightmare. I love these bus drivers. But there is like, it's amazing, they are very good at their job. They are very good at their job. It's just sometimes I'm like, you're watching a game while also taking this left turn really tight. You know, while somebody's asking you what stop it is, and you're turning away from the left turn. You can scare people away from making that look like that. I know, I know. It really is. It's really, it's quite safe. But you also ask people, of course, you ask the bus driver before you get on. And then they'll kind of like, as you just mentioned, they'll kind of shout it out if they're like getting close. They'll be like, hey, whoever needed this stop, this is it. We've even got off the bus sometimes after asking for a stop and we get off early because we want to go do something. And they'll like yell at us like, no, no, no, no, no, this is not your stop. Just get on, get on. Get on. It's fine. Actually, we're changing our mind. And I guess that's kind of the last of the only other thing I very quickly wanted to mention is this is all about the A-tack system, I think in the Rome day trip episode, we did mention the cultural, C-O-T-R-A-L buses. This is not for the cultural buses. The cultural buses are more akin to the sort of interest city, the ones that go between cities. Internet. Intercity. Intercity. Intercity. Intercity would be within the same city, right? Okay. Not count on the words today, y'all. It's kind of what the cultural is like and that's what you take to different towns. That works on a different system. It works based on the distance you go. You pay for different zones. It's kind of a whole other thing. But with the bus tickets, as Darcy just mentioned, you can already with the metros you've been able to use your card to pay, you just tap your card and you go in. Now the trams and the buses have something to tap your card and you're good. But if you like the tickets, you can either get one at the bus stops, not the bus stops, excuse me, what I'm talking about, at the train stops, the metro stops almost always have a ticket machine and some bus stops will have a ticket machine. Not all of them. Yeah, usually at the top of a line. The Kapo Linnea is the top of the line and they will have a ticket machine sometimes. But by and large, the adiquilla, if you see somebody selling like a newspaper, there's a really high chance you can buy a ticket there or at the tabaki. It says like Tabaki Esale, it's a little blue sign, the big T, it's read by cigarettes. It's also you buy tickets. So I think that's, is that everything on transportation? Was anything I missed? Yeah, I think so. Talk about trams, I think earlier. Did you want anything else on trams? No. No? Okay. I know we're sprinting through things. I'm like, again, trying to hit about 40 minute mark, which I have a minute and 20 seconds to hit. So I'm not getting there. All right. So I think that's pretty good on transit. What is next? You wanted to mention neighborhoods and I think one other thing we wanted to talk about is, and it ties in with the neighborhoods, is the idea that Rome is a walkable city? Yes. Okay. So to clear up the idea that Rome is a walkable city, it is very walk friendly. I mean, and regular people who live there walk around all the time. But just because it is easy and nice to walk around, like there's, you know, sidewalks and it's fairly safe and things like that, you can't just walk from one side to the other easily and go about your business, have a coffee, grab a pizza, whatever. Like it is a giant city. And I think there's this misunderstanding, I don't know, maybe especially for Americans. I don't know. I had the idea that Rome was small. And I think a lot of people that we know who visited think it's fairly small and you could walk from one side to the other like half an hour, it's giant. And I think, you should actually just have the kind of Americans in the misunderstanding. I've talked, I guess we've talked to people, I remember even when I was younger and talking to people who went, like, you know, they just went to Italy for the summer or whatever was for, you know, a week. And they're going to be, you know, a week. Oh, into Florence and Siena and Roman is just so walkable. And I'm like, if you're putting Florence and Siena and Rome together, or something like that, you know, too really small, and we've talked about this in the Florence and the Siena episode. They're very small. - They're historic and towards centers. - You can walk from one side to the other into like 20 minutes. - Yeah. - You can't walk from like the Pantheon to the Vatican in 20 minutes. Let alone from one side to the other. - Yeah. - So now that's just all to say, I think you're like in theory and in practice, if you are comfortable walking about five to 10 miles a day, which is not like an absurd, 'cause it's all flat in Rome. So it's, I mean, it's a city of seven hills with my god. I don't think they've ever seen a hill in their life. - One of our favorite walks has a hill, but that is like a very different walk. - It is a mound, I would say. It is a, it is sort of like, I call them a Florida hill. It's sort of like the flattest state in the America. - A Florida hill is a mole hill. - Yeah, it's kind of what Rome is like. It's like, that's a hill. I mean, I only say that 'cause again, they have like, it's the same kind, the same geographic entity, Italy, I mean, I was gonna say country, but I guess when they called them the city of the seven hills, they hadn't really seen the north, but you have like the Dolomites, you have the Tulento, you have the El Burkney, you have like all these other mountain ranges. - Yeah. - And then they get to Rome and they're like, that seems hellian, I'm like, it's, yeah. - Okay, but if you're like, the average retirement traveler. - Sure. - You might want to consider your walking. - Well, yeah. - Well, yeah. - Well, I think that's a, no, I think that's a, um. - 'Cause I don't want to make people think that there is absolutely no hills and it's the easiest walking. - Okay, okay, there are, there's like two hills I can think of, but I'm thinking walking from the Vatican to the Pantheon and to the Colosseum and to like the Spanish steps and the fountain. - Yeah, it's pretty much all flat. - Yes. - And, no, I mean, and again, you can, you can definitely walk that. We've, Darcy never done it many times, it's not like, again, outside the realm of possibility at all. It's just simply, if you've never been to Rome before, I don't know, I'm just, I guess I'm trying to think of like, when we walk 20 minutes, you can actually get somewhere, even where we're from in the States. 20 minutes, you can get somewhere. And then in Rome, it feels like, oh my God, I've gotten nowhere. Like there's no respect for a city block in Rome. There's either, you know, like a block is the size of one building and a block is sometimes the size of like 18 buildings, side by side, or 28 buildings side by side. So it's kind of like, to be walkable, not to mention it's not set up in a grid. So it's kind of like, if you choose the wrong direction, you know, and that doesn't have any cut-throughs, you could easily be walking a couple of hundred yards in the wrong direction just to cut back later. - I would say that if you're pressed for time, and you want to see a lot of things around Rome, a lot of tourist sites do your best to plan your travel in public transit, like look up the bus system before you go and things like that. Because in some of the historic areas, there aren't a lot of buses. - For sure, yeah. - But it is easy to get a bus from one major site to another, like from the Vatican to the Colosseum, or the area of the Travee fountain to the Spanish steps. - Well, not one of that, I was gonna say, that's probably the only walkable one there is. - That is walkable. So I don't know. - No, but like pay us a little bit lower. - I guess I'm saying like, don't think that you can like, run between each of these sites in five minutes. - I think if I made two, and just, maybe more so for, I was like, 'cause I think of a lot of what we know in the retirement age, we're traveling spend like six days in Rome and do spend a lot of time kind of exploring and walking around. I'm thinking more for those sort of backpackers who are like, one day in Rome and one day in Milan, and it's like. - Yeah, oh. - What are you gonna see in one day in Rome? - And you got your backpack. - Yeah. - That's amazing. - But that is something just to consider. It's like some of it is, as you just mentioned, some of it's next to each other, by and large, it's not that close to each other. You just mentioned two public transportation, doesn't always bring you to a door. I'm thinking even the subway stop for the Vatican brings you to a 10-minute walk away from the Vatican. - Yes. - It doesn't actually bring you to the Vatican, which is kind of a fun little discovery. The bus actually brings you closer. No, there's a lot of that kind of stuff. So just just something to keep in mind is, being reliant on public transportation is great in Rome because it will get you around. Of course, there's always taxis, and we have found that they are much, much, much cheaper in Rome than anywhere else we've ever been, which has been really nice. - Like in city wise. - Yeah, big city. I mean, you spend $20 in New York, and you probably can't get to the end of the block. You spend $20 in Rome and they get you from like, I don't halfway through the city in brush hour kind of thing, and I was like, "Wow, that's a good use of money there." So I'm always, you know, yeah. - Oh, speaking of taxis, there's the taxi app. - Free now? - Yes. I think we've talked about it before, but I'm like, so old school, I just thought we'd just, you know. - Flag of taxis, yeah. - Welcome to the 21st century. But which, I don't know, maybe you still can. - Oh, yeah, I think in Rome, yeah. - Okay, in places where there are taxis, I mean, like we were staying in a neighborhood and we needed to get to the airport, so we needed to pre-book. But yes, so free now is the like Rome city taxi app, and it's super helpful. - It's also just as I had a, it's a basically Uber. I think it's just a, I think we've used Uber twice, but essentially it has the little map that shows where the cars are. It tells you the driver's name. It tells you the license plate. It tells you what kind of car they're driving. Their reviews, a rough estimate of how much it'll cost you, the whole nine yards. It's very complete, it's very easy. And yeah, I mean, it's also, I think now with the free now app, technically you can also rent the scooters. There's a bunch of like electronic scooters, electric scooters run down. You can rent those with the free now app. Super usable, super helpful. If you're looking to kind of transport your way around Rome, because you can't use Uber, there's only Uber XL and Uber Luck. I guess you can use Uber if you have money. There's only three different kind of Uber's, or two different kind of Uber's like XL Luck's, XL Buy, something like that. - It's exactly ubiquitous here. - Yeah. - It doesn't all like the cheap version. - Well, 'cause basically the taxi union will not allow the Uber to be here. So it's, and that might change in the future. I think Milan and Rome are the only two places in Italy that allow Uber, and even then it's barely. Again, that might change. There was some kerfuffle last year around the taxi drivers overcharging people for rides to the airport. It's supposed to be a flat rate. It's like 50 to go to Fumuchino from anywhere in the city, and 38 to go to CIA from anywhere in the city, or maybe vice versa, from the airport to the town, and they're overcharging people like, you know, 62 instead of 50 kind of thing, or saying, oh, our card machine's down yet to pay cash, and everyone's like, oh. - I wonder if that's changed at all with the free now app, because I was trying to-- - Well, this is during the free now app, unfortunately. - Yeah, yeah. - 'Cause we were charged through the app. - This is, I think, for people leaving the airport and flagging down a cab. - Okay. - 'Cause that's the right, we are charged to the app, which does make it more protected. And I don't, I mean, I don't know the ins and outs. I don't know if people, I mean, the cab drivers are out there just cancelling, like, you know, avoiding all the, the airport rides, so-- - Yeah. - And there's always bad actors. - There's always bad actors. So, I think that is, basically, that's a good way of putting that-- - Yeah. - Okay, so, but just to talk about, like, walking, I don't wanna scare anybody off from walking around Rome is a, it's an awesome place to just wander around. And there are some really lovely neighborhoods to just meander through as well. I think in the, in the evening, "Trasteva" I always call the neighborhoods wrong. Okay, so in the daytime, "Trasteva" is like hot. - It's a little bit worse. - Desert of-- - Yeah, it's awful. - There's like, there's no shade. Somehow, the sun is like directly over that area. And there's like-- - Yeah, there's no way. - It's a layer right there. - Yeah, it's amazing. It's just a little oven, a little clay oven. - But in the evening, it gets really populated. It's obviously much cooler. It's lovely to wander around. There's lots of little bars and restaurants. And it's, it's a bit chaotic because it is, so popular, but it's fun. And there's little like galleries and stores will stay open later because they know it's popular, especially in the summertime. And when it's nice weather for people to wander around there, so that's really nice. - Yeah. - And then another one of our favorite places to walk is, just because it's convenient for us, is "Piancita Pablo" to expand its steps. It's kind of like, it's a big main drag, you know? It's got a lot of big boxes. - It's got H&M and like Puma and North Face or something like that. - Which is Limili's favorite part of it, but it's still fun, it's a nice thing. - There's a great street next to it. It's like Via de Merca, or something like that. I could find it and stick it on the description of this. But from "Piancita Pablo" going south, there are three, I guess three roads that fork out from "Piancita Pablo" in straight lines. There's one that goes left towards these managed steps. There's one that goes straight towards, I think it's the altar of the fatherland, is what it's called, and there's one that goes right that sort of dead ends at a museum or something like that, not too far down. The one if you go right, by the way, there is a "graki", it's a "gilatoria", it's quite nice. And then if you go a little farther down, there's an art store that Darcy likes to buy her art supplies. I don't call it "pogi". - Yeah, the one that's straight ahead is where a lot of the box stores are. It's also where a lot of people, and I thought, I assume it's a real thing, and not a scam, maybe it's a scam, it's where a lot of people ask like, hey, do you have a second? Can I interest you in supporting, I don't know. - People like recovering from alcoholism in this case, yeah. - But it never seems like a scam. like it's always one of those really questionable things because it's I don't know you have to basically donate money which obviously all these things don't donate money but sometimes you ask too many questions and then they ask you something like oh by the way how old are you oh I'm sorry you can't do this I'm so sorry yeah and you have to be X years older or yeah I'm sorry where you from I'm sorry you have to be a citizen of stone so to be do this I'm so sorry or I think I don't know you are odd I mean I'm always out for signing a petition I mean if I agree with that I'm just gonna sound a piece of paper but yeah those are those those organizations are kind of odd real well the arc is also like I some of them are obviously very I mean it's like unicef is out there and they're just you know hey you guys want to talk about people who need help and it's like yeah what's up I got a minute and some people you've never heard of the organization and they aren't really clear about it they just have like a clipboard with the organization name and I know when I was in Paris yeah and I was in Paris like 10 years ago as people was doing these like doing a sign a petition and support like I mean something really like of course who wouldn't want to be like you know putting wheelchair ramps and every you know when I was something like of course I want to support that it's awesome but they wanted cash right then and right there and they wanted a minimum of like 10 euros and you're like wait a second wait a second wait a second am I just giving you 10 euros is this like a scam and that's kind of like again these aren't necessarily scams they just might be questionable at best and nobody can hold a little predatory they are and I've like even when I look at like the subreddit and stuff for it even the Italians like I have no idea what they're doing there like I have no no idea what's going on and now we just tell people like no thank you we gave money last week and they're like oh cool thank you so much for supporting so I don't know I'm not like against I guess supporting charities I'm just more like I really wanted to be a charity and not just like somebody in a green vest and getting money to so that's in the middle road and if you go in the left road it's like a couple nice hotels and it kind of gets into some like smaller more boutique shops but there is a hidden left road so you take the left road and you walk for a little bit and then there's a a left off that left road and there's a very quiet very artsy street it's got like fancy art galleries fancy art galleries there's a stone carver there that sells these little like I don't know words written on stone there's yeah a couple like showrooms for things it's really quite interesting because you have like you know half a million people walking on the street next to you and like seven people walking on the street that you're on it's also it's kind of there's a lot of greenery on that street so it kind of feels a little bit cooler during the day similar streets just feel like ovens and then of course it does you then you have to kind of get off the street later because it does dead end again you have to go back to the main street but yeah we do like that walk in but then again Piazza del Popolo to Spanish chefs is a 20-25 minute walk if we're not like chugging if we're just kind of strolling and we're like oh what's going on over there you reminded me actually thinking about the people asking for money in the little vests and clipboards it's very popular in Piazza del Popolo for people to try to sell you roses um you do not have to say yes they will put them in your hand you can drop them you can give them back you don't have to take them no means no so just don't be intimidated I mean you can get a rose if you want one no no they are it's not like yeah they do that thing where it's like oh it's a gift and you shove it I think you had actually like like like hit you with one of those thorns one time yeah I got stabbed me in the hand with one and and then I uh I think that I got so angry that time but I didn't I didn't say anything in the next time I just messed with the guy uh I think it was the same person I took out I'm like oh it's a game I mean this is all on Italian so I was more confident by them so I was like oh it's a gift thank you so much that's so that's so kind of you and just walked away with it and he's like no no you have to pay me and so I just kind of messed them and gave it throws back yeah that makes sense a good story for you uh no what it is that's I think that the woman behind you thought it's really funny um because they do it to everybody and I there's a definitely there's a gilding shaming sort of thing happening and some people can be quite aggressive about it I mean to use your phrase earlier no one's gonna punch you in the face but there's like an aggressive uh predatory energy sometimes and I'm not down with it well there's also that sort of like I mean rarely but sometimes people kind of like stop you from going somewhere not necessarily grabbing your arm but certainly wait wait before you it's like I'm leaving I don't want to buy this thank you very much for your time goodbye yeah um no I think we we we I don't know I realized when we talk about this to your your your your your I think your dad especially he's like I thought you guys were like the you know the bleeding heart travelers and it's like yeah but like not when you're you're being outwardly aggressive it's like it's I don't know it's not like I don't always seems kind of like not even a scam but I'm just like it's five euros for a rose that you know you got for 20 cents it's you know and you're and you're shoving into people's hands and you get angry with them when they say no or you're chasing them through the thing yeah I mean there are a lot of people who who sell their wares and I think that we try to buy stuff for them but it's also like I'm I'm all for artisans and makers and also people who you know work it like to use clothing markets and things like that but it doesn't matter what industry you're and if you're aggressive then I'm not going to help you out on a less aggressive note actually for that oh no I didn't say there is also people who will sell the bracelets and stuff and one really popular selling technique is to toss it to you yeah and they're like hey man and they'll toss you a bracelet and of course you're gonna catch it because you're like what are you throwing at me um and there's that sort of like uh again there's that sort of like then they kind of walk like that's just a little gifted for you and they kind of walk away and they're like but if you have like a couple dollars like oh no can I get that bracelet back then um so it's a little bit like that it's a little and sometimes it's not I mean we have to be absolutely I think we've seen people actually um somebody give a bracelet and and the person they gave to who thought it was going to be this whole figure more like no seriously I like like it's yours I don't I'm good I'll see you later and you walk away and I was like the rare turnaround yeah it's just people's marketing tactics you know I mean it's it's it's not a I guess I I feel like when I say this I feel like I'm like a harping under particular industry or something but it's just I don't know I'm just knocked down with aggressive marketing I think that's the one thing that's that's the thing it's a kind of aggressive like uh especially when you're in the middle of something you're doing something your hands are full or what you're trying to eat pasta or I know that's the other thing it's like there's uh I always feel bad like uh I don't know when I whenever we're doing something and then they were kind of get stopped and it's just sort of like I have like my mouthful and I'm like I don't what's going on right now I'm so sorry um and that's just also to mention too uh I guess there's a little heads up too if you are eating outside anywhere um Italy I want to say is a very different culture I think to America uh at least that I've seen that I'm used to in which that they'll allow people into the restaurants to sell you things um so if you're eating inside or if you're eating outside for sure people come up to you try to say roses and uh I mean everything I mean sometimes it'll be socks and and matches and and tissues it's like uh it doesn't matter where you are people will try to say stuff um which can be quite convenient if you need an extra pair of socks it could be super because there's no toilet paper and a lot of the bathroom so which oh you should tell them you're gonna mention that we got to the southern episodes but basically we've mentioned this before but there is never going to be toilet paper in the bathroom if there is it's a miracle um you're you're very lucky if there's a toilet seat uh there's often not even a toilet seat um so sometimes it's issues can be helpful to matches the lighters that can be really helpful to um but just as a thing like people will absolutely come into the restaurant stand by the table and uh we even have dinners before where we're like we're like no no thank you thank you no thanks and then they just kind of stand there for you know 10 15 seconds and most people don't I mean most people are just genuinely out there like hey do you need this thing right now oh yeah not to get more of the people who are selling like the roses or the uh uh sometimes it's music sometimes with people coming around about music and I know that's a very tie-in thing you're like oh of course I'll pay the the uh what is the French word troubadour the troubadour some money for uh you know for sort of the quay um but buy in large I don't I think it's one of these little warning I just nice again what would I tell a friend it is like what you know that it's little things that are that can be a little jarring culture yes and it's to kind of like take no offense to it it's not a personal thing oh yeah I think the first time everyone's in a kind of room not even ruin us but it just not ruin us at all but it was just like oh that kind of made it weird like you know some guy kind of getting really aggressive when we didn't know by something and you're like oh that was so sad yeah and it's also it's it's one of those things where it's like I don't know it's a room in general it's not in general I think our I don't know it's almost like aggressiveness is a different thing I think as an American like being loud is not aggressive here it's just how you communicate um touching is not remotely aggressive here like people touch all the time and I say that like oh go ahead I was just gonna say touching meaning like not anything that it makes you uncomfortable like oh yeah sorry like groped in a bit of subway or something like that is very much yes that's not no I mean I mean sometimes people come up to and kind of like you know yeah okay man I do mobile I do not if I talk to you for that kind of thing or I don't know sometimes like you're at a restaurant or something like that you know and the owner will come out and he kind of like just grabbed your shoulders and he's especially with you especially with me like older guys are very like like to grab your shoulder and like oh this young man yeah and they're like it's like they're trying to be eating they come out like grab my shoulders and they ask Darcy how the meal is and I'm like well thank you it's fantastic um like so there's just something you get a lot of loving touches I get a lot of loving touches on my sides uh a lot of a lot of people it's like a loving dad that sounds kind of dense and yeah it sounds gross but like I hate I just got to get past you yes that's sort of friendly like sort of I'm just going to move you to the side but don't take this in a bad way I don't know I'm we're making this unterrible it's one of those things I it's I don't know I think it's a times as a culture they're very uh one not even a times as a culture everyone in Italy as a culture I think is very touching everyone here just touches and if there's nothing untowards about it usually um and like like people who are not couples go walking down the street like arm and arm yeah exactly so I just I think it's one of those things where like if people are trying to say you something they do happen to like you know um you know detection of shoulders I'm like that clapping the shoulder uh or something that it's not like just there's very even if they're loud it's like I don't know it's just one of those things that took me a minute to get used to the fact that like if somebody's yelling at me they might not be yelling at me it could just be like an excited thing um and so Sometimes yelling back is kind of like the post office is a good example of just somebody yelling at you and you're just like, I don't know what you're saying or the yelling that you have to, you didn't, you didn't hit accept, you hit decline, you destroyed the system and if you yell back, I know the difference between accepting decline, which is a very specific, very recent memory at a post office, all that it was to say is, yeah, this is more of a, if anything's kind of like when you're walking around and people are kind of getting aggressive or they just excuse me, hey, let me grab you for a second and it's just smile laughs, say no thank you, if you don't wanna buy whatever they're selling and you're gonna be 100% fine. It's just more of like that kind of, I say that 'cause Rome I think is probably more than any other city we've run into people selling stuff, I think, just on the streets of being more like, not even buscars, I think buscars are good example. Naples is big on music busking, anything Florence is big on art busking, like they sell prints and stuff but I think Rome's big on this sort of just, anything goes kind of busking, like just here, or just stuff selling stuff on the streets. Yeah, there's music, there's, I mean, there's also tons of music obviously, like especially around that source of areas, especially evenings, sometimes they won't set up that far away from each other. We saw one musician sort of get yelled at by some guy in a apartment who came down to yell at her again and I was just like, oh my God. So there's a little bit of, you know, not everybody loves the fact there's a lot of buscars here, I guess, especially the singing ones, 'cause to be fair, it's at 9.30 a night, you're trying to go to sleep, you gotta work in the morning, get somebody singing Lady Gaga, and I can see that being whether you're knowing. Sorry, so I went way off top it, but essentially this was all to say, it's not gonna be bad, it's just more to warn you, not to warn you to let you know that, yeah, it's especially towards the areas. - So what does it affect? - Yeah, people can sleep bottles of water, just umbrella is that kind of stuff. It's easy to say, no thanks, and you're good. - I mean, often very convenient items, but. - Well, I mean, we have bought umbrellas and ponchos in the middle of a rainstorm, 'cause it's like, it's just started raining and some guy runs by, you guys want a poncho? I'm like, what extraordinary rates are you charging? I mean, I always say, yes, of course, 'cause it's 10 euros, I'm like 10 euros for a- - It's about down for, no problem. - Yeah, so that's just something to keep in mind, is that, yeah, it's the amount of money we spent on stupid things like that, and I'm like, I have a nice 15-year-old poncho on their charging, 20 or 10 for a tiny plastic bag. That's the thing, yeah, you gotta respect the hustle. - Mm-hmm, speaking of the buskers, I guess three more kind of walk things and what I want to mention is, so he said, terasevara, like I said, I guess, terasevara, a great place to walk around. In the evenings, they do often have, there's like a, it's a tiny piazza area, that has some of- - Well, actually, I think there's two piazzas, and there's a one at the beginning of it. - Yeah, I think they're performing there. In the Vatican area, there's the, called the Angel Bridge, poncho. - Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Near the Castel. - Really, Angel, no, Castel. - Oh, man, I'm like, it's, it's something Castel, something or the, oh, Elmo, sent Elmo, sent Elmo. - I don't know, I don't know. - Wow, so we've trust us, we've been there, I promise. - And we should put it in it. - Yes, to the castle that's near the Vatican. It's a medieval castle thing. - There are often people busking there, and sometimes there'll be people who are like, clearly very much, not to say that any musician is not a professional, but some of them are like, oh, you seem like you're in an orchestra, and this is just your night off, and you're fun thing to do. - There's a very good harpist there. - Yeah, it's great. - Yeah. - And then often, is it, is it the Ponte, Ponte? - Ponte. - Ponte, Ponte, Daliangely. Is that where a bunch of, a bunch of musicians often set up there, and they'll take turns? - Yes, yeah. - So that's a great walk. - Well, I'm gonna either end the way to the island. - Mm-hmm. - That's a lovely place to wander around. The Borgasi Gardens, lovely walk. - I always say Borgasi Gardens, lovely walk, but then when it is in the evenings, the nighttime, it does, obviously, kind of, people disappear. - Yeah. - This is one of ways to walk in the day. - Yeah, it doesn't get to be fair. I wanna be very clear, like, Rome is not a very dangerous city by American standards. I say that coming from a place that is not very dangerous by American standards, and it's still a lot of gun violence and still a lot of crime and muggings and this and that. But Rome, while the fact is a city, it's a very, very low rate of crime for, I mean, especially even within Europe, it's like, I mean, people, I know we've heard about people have, like, go to Madrid and Barcelona, and they're like, I was pickpocketed 15 times, and like, a week, I have no idea what's going on in Barcelona. That doesn't really exist in Rome at all. - I mean, they're still pickpockets, but it's not. - Yeah, for sure. - And there's still probably, I mean, honestly, don't leave your bag around, don't leave your camera around. People, yeah, there's that kind of stuff, but it's not, like, I don't know, it's just what, I mean, we've also, it's definitely that sort of survivorship bias. Like, we've been there for four or five summers now, never had a problem, but I think every summer, we meet one person who's like, yeah, so I just, like, somebody just stole my wallet. But again, like, pickpocketing, not like a mucking. It's just to say, like, the Borghazy guards, I don't mean to say, don't go there at night, 'cause it's dangerous, it's just more, everything's closed, there's nothing to see. And it's not a very well lit place, so it's like, if there's anything going bad happen in Rome, it'd be in a place where it's not very well lit. I feel like, but the streets themselves, I mean, two in the morning, there's still gonna be people out coming home from dinner, coming home from restaurants, coming home from bars and clubs, transportation runs till pretty late, so you should be, like, safe, it doesn't make sense. Sorry, you're talking about street performance, though, in other neighborhoods. - Oh, no, that was pretty much it. - Are there walls? - Those were big suggestions for Borghazy. - Borghazy, yeah. - Borghazy. - Yeah. - Anjaliye, Ivatican, Piazzetta, popolo, and the Tristepere. There's also that we think we basically just run through other kind of areas, like there's the Prati neighborhood, which is the one around the Vatican. We've talked about it before. It has a great market. It's a little bit more residential. It's a little bit more quiet, but it's just a different kind of slice of life. Testatio is kind of like, it's like Chelsea, I think, in New York City is a good way, kind of putting it. It was like once a very blue collar kind of area. It's less so now, but like, I don't know, it's like, honestly, like even 10 years ago, it was far more blue collar than it is now, so it's slowly kind of changing. I don't even know if gentrifying is the word, 'cause it's still kind of has a lot of starving artist types, I think, a distacho, so it's not quite really nice now, but they have a Testatio market, which we've talked about before, amazing food. Just across from Testatio, there is the Palantine Hill, which has that little, if you've ever seen these images of Rome on Instagram or Reddit, there's always the Vatican through the keyhole. That's on the Palantine Hill. There's also a gorgeous church up there. There's a gorgeous garden up there. There's two gorgeous gardens up there. There's like the classic orange tree garden, and there's the other little one that you got up there. - Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I did move away from my mic there, I think, a little bit. And, no, since a lot of those kinds of walks there, there's a rose garden there that's only open, I think, in spring and fall. - So there is, that's a great walk. If you go from like the anywhere in Testatio, but we did a lovely walk from the Testatio market, how did I sew lunch? Walked up the hill to basically where the keyhole is, and then walked along that street. There's the two gardens, which are lovely for a little sit. You continue walking down the same street, and you'll end up in the, that the rose garden, which I think opens this month. It was closed during the summer. - Yeah, October. - Yeah. And then basically you arrive at what is that large area? - You kind of come down, oh, you mean the massimo? Jerko massimo? - Yes. - Which is, the Jerko massimo is like a, a track, I guess. It's like an ancient track. What do they call that? The chariot rides and stuff? Not chariot rides, that makes it sound like it was a fun thing. Chariot races. It's now used for a lot of like concerts and stuff. We're also thinking there's the Montenabrehood, M-O-N-T-I. It is near-ish to the Tehranning train station. It's got like one, two, maybe three nice kind of fun, nice in the sense of, again, this is another area that was quite student-y, quite rundown like 10 years ago. And it's still quite student-y, but it's like, again, like they're doing, I don't know, it's one of those things it's like, I imagine like anywhere in Rome, it goes through constant cycles. Like you talk to people who were living there in the 80s and they're like, you could just walk into the Colosseum. There was no, there was not a, it wasn't an attraction. You know, there's no, there's nothing there. I was just like, yeah, if you want to have a beer in the Colosseum, you could have a beer at the Colosseum. And it's funny because people where beer people live now, some of these such beaches and older people kind of live in the Piazzatopopolo. It's like, it wasn't a great area to live in in the 80s and the 90s. Now it is the area, it's got all the stores, it's kind of like walking down, I don't know, fifth avenue, I think in New York is kind of like that, but it's just people who are, again, who feel like, well, this needs to be a quiet area. And yeah, there was some crime, but man, that was better than having, you know, North Face blasting, I don't know, pop music. So there's a, it's an interesting shift. It's like everything's kind of getting quite cyclical. So a lot of neighborhoods that were once really interesting are now going back to being really interesting. I mean, I guess they're always interesting, but they're kind of being like, a lot of food things, like I guess they're happening in Monte. It's just like, again, it's cheap. So it's like, if it fails, it fails. It's just, you know, it's nice. But Monte's a nice neighborhood, Kevore, is a nice neighborhood. - Who has the thrift stores? - Yeah, that's right around the avenue as well. And I think there's one called San Giovanni, I wanna say it's called San Giovanni. It's kind of behind the avenue. We've been there only once for an art show. - Oh, yeah. - But it was very, it's very studenty. It's very cheap for people living, like basically people living there, 'cause it's a cheap area and still being in Rome. And it's like, again, it's sort of like when you go to Naples, you'll have the same feeling of everything's graffiti, but it might be like 200 year old graffiti and you wouldn't be surprised kind of thing. Or it could be yesterday's graffiti. But it's a very, it's kind of like one of those things where you're not quite sure how much. of the graffiti is cultured and how much of it is just cultured in a sense of like there to yeah I know it's like Williamsburg like a New York City has left a lot of the graffiti everywhere but it's like the last time somebody graffitied in Williamsburg was 20 years ago so it's kind of that kind of feeling and I think the sense of money but all this is it there's some really nice neighborhoods there's some really beautiful walking areas there's some beautiful just you couldn't get lost for hours I mean on a good way yeah and a great thing to do is get lost and have a bus ticket and then you know just know which bus that you're staying next to if you're if you're staying in Airbnb or house sitting house sitting link in the description or if you're staying at a hotel just to kind of know like some ways to get back there if you have a phone even easier and no I think basically that's what you and I like to do sometimes just go get lost and then one bus will connect you to the next bus and you'll be back home in 30 minutes so that's kind of nice and I think one more word I just want to say on safety when I looked base I was trying to when I was writing an article on safety and Rome I didn't want to write it strictly from our point of view because we do live in a quite residential area when we're there house sitting and we aren't out after like one or two so it's not rarely I think once we were we took the run bus and that's another thing keep mind you're taking the right bus but no some people think that the area around harmony the main train station is gets a little shifty in the evenings and I say when I say evenings I do mean when it closes at 12 and it does there's a it basically it's one of I guess it's like because it's kind of lit around the clock and I think there's a mild police presence around the clock it's a fairly safe place to sleep if you are like unhoused so you have a lot of people kind of just basically sleeping there because it's a quite safe place to sleep comparatively speaking and that just means that sometimes people who walk by at night kind of get bothered or get yelled at or this that I couldn't find any natural statistics on it being an actual okay like unsafe area I know some people again when they talk about booking hotels or even this when we book hotels like in apartment buildings kind of think they're very tiny hotels everyone's like oh that's an unsafe area and it's like not really it's you know that it's just one of those things where I feel like it seems unsafe but there isn't really a much reported crime at least which isn't to say there isn't any crime it's just I just wanted to throw that out there as far as people who looking to but we almost always stayed near the hotel anytime we fly to Rome what do I talk about near the train station because it's I mean usually there's there is like 30 40 hotels within a two minute walk from the train station and you can just wake up you walk the train station you take your 42 minute train out to the airport and you fly out and it's hundreds of modellers cheaper than staying at the one of the airport yeah um so I think that's I says neighborhoods safety transportation walking around uh we didn't really talk about food we can if we went to the next episode uh just some very brief like I don't know what we've talked about Roman food before I think we should talk about you pitched this earlier off Mike uh pizza pizza and pizza atalio yes because we're also we're I will that is a big one because we're going into Naples afterwards and Naples is the home of pizza very proudly so and I thought we should talk about the abominations of pizza before we talk about I know they're great in their own ways I know I know I think pizza is actually even like a precursor to pizza like flatbreads in in Italy have been around for like 2000 years yeah um and apparently they've just been awful for 1700 of those years I'm kidding for a huge fan of pizza though so it's uh the pizza atalio is to be famous who's the pizza the pizza is great and they're all really good in their own ways very much not you can't think of one like one is a version of the other and they're not they're just that being said people did bring us for Roman pizza and that was awful yeah that's that's actually not very good no it was a crispy flatbread with some tomato sauce and some cheese on top and I was like this is disgusting there's no way you people eat this I was horrified I was they have other great food they have amazing food it was Roman pizza this is one of those things where I have not I people ask me how Italian have you gotten it I'm like I'm not very Italian I'm not like snotty about food I'm like there's no part of me that's very Italian and then people talk about pizza I'm like oh you're not eating pizza in North okay you're eating flatbread so I do get quite uh I realize it's pizza I think is the only one I get that it's a trigger for you it that pizza gelato you know I will get trigger but gelato on pizza those are the two food groups the major food groups that I'm like people start talking but you know it's good pizza and I'm like you do not know it was good pizza trust me so we're gonna talk about Naples and good pizza but I think next episode we want to talk about some Roman varieties because we've I think in previous episodes we keep talking about pizza Italian we keep talking about pizzas so we just wanted to hit them up and also probably go we're gonna throw in some cheap budget-eats/street food while Rome is not as known for sandwiches as like the rest of Italy I Florence it's still quite there's still some great sandwich places there's some pita pasta places so we're just gonna probably do pizza pizza pita salio and then a handful of budget-eats that we really like that are just solid meals every time we go um and I think all of them are close to at least one tourist attraction so whether it's the Vatican whether it's the Spanish steps there's something for everyone at these that makes sense yeah I think that sounds good all right solid one hour and 15 minutes is all right okay so it's pretty good so it's if you ask a friend yeah if you ask a friend which say what would I need to know at Rome and they take a coffee at the coffee shop is what we're doing yeah we would oh yeah we'd be we'd be running the bathroom back and forth I get a pee I don't know I have to pee when I drink coffee I don't know if that's necessary this podcast but I'm just every time someone's like let's have a coffee I'm like oh god I'm gonna be peeing the whole time on there um so you're welcome I don't know where I was going with this I'm just thinking you're like a second coffee at the coffee shop when we're here just like oh um yeah we would be the second coffee at the coffee shop so when that being said I think that's everything there's a link in description to if you want to try to figure out how to house it this winter this spring um basically and I think one last last thing on the house setting we talked about this before but five to seven weeks out it's a good time to look for house sits people are not that up on the sort of like if this is not number like I don't know it's every time we look for house sits it's people like oh my god I'm leaving town next week I totally forgot I have to find a house sitter um no one's doing I'm leaving town in nine months I have to find a house sitter yeah those are much more rare um so that's just something like it is just something consider is the if it's when you get out of town snap of the moment spur the moment kind of thing snap decisions for a month or a month ahead of time or whatever you know that's those things is snap decision yeah sorry I very slow snap decision then I would consider house sitting there's a link in the description to trust at house sitters it's one of the major ones that we use I know so like I'm doing an ad for it but we like it and if you buy their plan it helps out the channel it's not a channel but we YouTube know what are we called a podcast station podcast just a podcast so it helps out the podcast I think I've watched too much YouTube videos like it helps out the channel I'm like yeah right thanks channel um but just if you are interested in in house sitting there are there's nomador as well we there where we don't have a link to them do we but I just want to list some other places so people know that yeah there's nomador in mind of my house house carers and there's also I think it's like kind of under one umbrella company but there's like house sitters UK USA AU which is Australia and Canada and there's some it's either like UK house sitters or house sitters UK and I think it's like house sitters US and then ones like US house sitters it's something weird they're all flippy flop but there are four I think under the same umbrella and maybe like house sort of Ireland is under there um but there's four or five under the same umbrella uh we have used those frequently in the past uh especially house sitters UK um no there's a handful out there I think trusted house sitters is just the one that has typically the most available sits it's the most available I'm super I mean they're all trustworthy but it's like super convenient um so yeah I think it's and I think yeah but maybe it's it's convenient it's easy but also I think trusted house sitters is sort of the 21st century answer to house sitting versus yeah no would or mind my house they're great but it very much feels like a early 2000s version no more doors definitely ratcheting it up quite a bit but it's where I say that in a sense of like it's a step above putting an ad in the back of a travel magazine whereas trusted house sitters seems to try to take some of the uh blame for lack of better word if something goes wrong they seem to be like there's like for house people who want to uh use their house to have house sitters come there's insurance that you can get through them and then for house sitters uh like us if we got the extra plan um there are it's like basically it's like travel insurance essentially so if somebody cancels and you last a minute they will put you up for a few nights and get you a flight um so there's that kind of stuff which is why I like the trusted house sitters it's it's if you're willing I mean it's more expensive it's a few hundred dollars a year instead of a hundred dollars a year um but it's one of those things where if you're going to be using it more than I mean for more than three nights it's cheaper than a hotel yeah and and there's so much kind of protection built in I like mine my house I like no more but there's less protection it's just more of like if it doesn't work out it doesn't work out I'm sorry you about a ticket um so we still use them but it's more like uh you have to find like-minded individuals rather than trusted house sitters where there's a lot of protection built in yeah um sorry I'm sorry I know I'm going to hold monologue with that too that's good if you made it this far and you're still listening to us talk thank you so much for being here thank you so much for listening to this episode yeah and uh I guess the next one will be on pizza pizza and self self pizza what are my pizza italio what am I talking about um and then and then we're going to go into Naples but we are leaving after next week so we'll put out one more episode while we're still in Italy uh and somewhat fittingly it's and then we'll go south and then we'll be going to the south of the United States as well so yes we'll basically be traveling to the US but in our podcast we will be talking about Naples yes all right thank you all so much for listening. Yeah, we'll talk to you next time. And enjoy until then.